Ambidexterity, prosocial impact, and task performance in cross-functional teams: the role of individual’s team identification

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PurposeThis paper examines the motivational influence of individuals’ team identification (TID) on their ambidexterity (TA), prosocial impact (TPS), and task performance (TTP) at the team level of analysis, as well as investigates the role of TA in mediating TID’s relationship with both TTP and TPS.Design/methodology/approachBy using a cross-sectional sample of 102 cross-functional teams with a total of 362 individual members from 22 firms in the customer-facing industries of Indonesia, we analyzed multilevel data and tested hypotheses using aggregated team-level structural equation modeling (SEM).FindingsThis study supports a significant positive relationship between TID and TA. Further, while TA fully mediates the relationship between TID and TTP, TID has a direct influence on TPS.Practical implicationsThis study contributes to filling the gaps in empirical evidence pertaining to the role of identity in motivating employees beyond their formal employment contracts. Their immediate leaders play a crucial role in individuals’ daily work lives and affect how they view their social identifications with their team, which subsequently contributes toward the enhancement of people and organizational performances.Originality/valueOur study offers empirical evidence in support of the identity-enhanced principal-agent model and contributes to the literature on Social Identity Theory with a focus on the individual-group interface. To our knowledge, our study is the first empirical research on the influence of TID on TA, TPT, and TPS across multiple firms in the customer-facing industries.